Recap: Shifting Gears Season 2 Episode 10 Just Took a Sharp Turn—And It All Started With a 1-Star Review
- Tameka
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The episode kicks off with any business owner’s nightmare – a bad online review. Eager to find out who the unhappy customer might be, Riley becomes hyper focused to draw them out of hiding. To help relieve the stress, Georgia starts writing positive reviews with lackluster help from Carter, Gabriel and Stitch (good luck to Renee from Temecula).
Meanwhile, Pete, an old high school friend of Matt, visits the shop. Like many reunions, it’s filled with memories of teenage shenanigans and current day updates. Matt shares he is a widower; Pete lets him know that he has a husband. Instead of the awkward pause, Matt surprises Pete by saying, “everyone knew” – he loved Boy George and was in the choir. With an open spirit of acceptance, Pete invites Matt and Riley to his husband’s art gallery show.
Worried that Matt might not be able to navigate the night, Riley suggests he say, “hmm, food for thought,” to avoid any awkward moments. To everyone’s surprise, Pete’s husband, Damien, needed the phrase more than anyone else.
Damien is the ultimate snarky snob, which felt a bit over the top. Reeking of elitism, this character was overdrawn to make Matt feel inadequate. How do you stand up for yourself without sounding like a bully? Even though Pete apologized for his husband’s behavior, Matt was ready to do an Irish goodbye. Before he left, Matt did share that as a custom car designer, he made dreams come true while Damien on the other hand displayed people’s work. The story arc on stereotypes was a good subject matter to explore. I do think the execution needed to be sharper. It felt tangled up in the writing and the scene was choppy with limited transitions. I think it was missing the jokes per line which made the pace out of sequence.
By the end of the episode, we see Matt and Damien bond over restaurants with no kids allowed (my dream date). Riley finally learns that reviewer AJ89 is Andy, a cute customer played by Jesse Williams who has a disgruntled daughter who's been writing reviews. Apparently, Andy’s daughter is fed up with stopping at the coffee shop every morning because her dad has a crush. With a sparkle and a smile, Riley is happy with the turn of events and agrees to go on a date. Andy is excited and worried because he knows this will not go well with his daughter. Nothing more dangerous than a teenager with a cell phone.
Starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings, Shifting Gears airs on ABC Wednesday nights, stream next day on HULU.
What did you think?
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So/So